REPORT ON THE ARCHITECTURAL/HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE OF NO. 24 SHREWSBURY ROAD, DUBLIN 4. & OBSERVATIONS ON THE IMPACT OF THE CURRENT PROPOSAL June 2018 DAVID SLATTERY – Architect – Historic Buildings Consultant 8, Vergemount, Clonskeagh, Dublin 6, Ireland. Tel:+353(1) 2697344 Fax: +353 (1) 2604098 e-mail: [email protected] DAVID SLATTERY – Architect – Historic Buildings Consultant 8, Vergemount, Clonskeagh, Dublin 6, Ireland. Tel:+353(1) 2697344 Fax: +353 (1) 2604098 e-mail: [email protected] Report On The Architectural/Historic Significance Of No. 24 Shrewsbury Road, Dublin 4 (Walford), And Observations On The Impact Of The Current Proposal 1. Introduction This report has been completed on instruction from Lawrence & Long Architects, on behalf of Celtic Trustees Limited. It should be read in conjunction with the Laurence & Long Architects’ comprehensive planning drawings, verified CGIs prepared by ArchFix and the planning report detailing relevant precedents by Stephen Little & Associates. It provides an assessment of the significance of No. 24 Shrewsbury Road, its setting and context, and identifies any associated special architectural and historic character and any other features which are of note. A full evaluation of the chronology of the subject site and the building has been included in Section 2. This evaluation has been carried out with reference to a number of important resources. These include the following - Trinity College Map Library the National Library of Ireland the Irish Architectural Archive the National Archives of Ireland ArchInfo in UCD. Local History Section, Pembroke Library, Ballsbridge. The report addresses the proposed demolition of the house and proposed new single dwelling development on the site. In the preparation of this report the site was fully evaluated and photographically recorded internally and externally. These photographs are appended to the report. The impact of the proposal on the significance and character of the site, streetscape and setting has been assessed in accordance with the 2000 Planning Act and the DoCHG Guidelines on Architectural Heritage. The house at No. 24 Shrewsbury Road is not included on the Dublin City Council Record of Protected Structures. The site is zoned Z2, with the objective “to protect and/or improve the amenities of residential conservation areas”. It is noted that areas zoned Z2 in the current development plan are extensive. The development plan notes that all such areas have - David Slattery Conservation Architects Ltd Architectural Heritage AssessmentDavid of Slattery – Conservation Architects Ltd. No.24 Shrewsbury Road (Walford) Historic Buildings Consultants Dublin 4 James Slattery B.Arch., Dipl. ABRCons M.R.I.A.I. - Principal / Director 8 Vergemount Clonskeagh Dublin 6 1 ’’……extensive groupings of buildings and associated open spaces with an attractive quality’’ However it is crucial to note that this zoning does not seek to protect character in the way that an adopted ACA would. It seeks solely to maintain prevailing overall qualities such as road layouts, scale, massing and material quality of buildings in a built environment. It certainly does not preclude demolition but indicates where more control is needed on development within established areas. Large scale contemporary interventions are therefore likely to be less favoured. It is noted that the assessment of previous applications on this site by An Bord Pleanala elevated the Z2 zoning towards the level of an ACA, please refer below to the assessment section of this report. The site does not lie within an Architectural Conservation Area and it has not been considered appropriate to elevate the road to such a status. Twenty three ACA’s are listed on the Dublin City Council website, Shrewsbury Road and the surrounding area has not been considered to merit such a status. It is noted Shrewsbury Road has been the subject of many applications and assessments over many years and to date just one building on the road (Woodside) has been deemed worthy of inclusion on Dublin City Council’s Record of Protected Structures, despite opportunities for spot- listing and adaption of ACA’s. Walford has not been deemed worthy of any such status. The NIAH have not carried out an assessment of Walford. Fig. 1 Zoning Map & Context of Walford on Shrewbsury Road – Walford site outlined in red Fig. 1A Wider view of extensive Z2 Zoning within which the Ailesbury, Shrewbsury & Merrion Road triangle is set. David Slattery Conservation Architects Ltd Architectural Heritage Assessment of No.24 Shrewsbury Road (Walford) Historic Buildings Consultants Dublin 4 8 Vergemount Clonskeagh Dublin 6 2 Our comprehensive research has revealed there is no reference to the house in any of the Architectural volumes and guides that cover the period in which it was built. These include all of the following: Architecture in Ireland 1837 – 1921 by Jeremy Williams – - Four buildings on Ailesbury road are referred to, none on Shrewsbury Road. Ireland & The New Architecture by Sean Roherty - Includes a Chapter devoted to ‘The Influence of the Arts & Crafts’ (in Ireland). 20th Century Architecture in Ireland by Annette Becker, John Olley and Wilfred Wang. Dublin – Pevsner Guide by Christine Casey. The study does not extend to the area. Dublin’s Bourgeois Homes, Building the Victorian Suburb’s, 1850-1901 by Susan Galavan. - - Numbers 6 & 8 Shrewsbury Road are referred to and there is a lengthy section analysing plans of houses on the road, Walford is not referred to. Dublin (1910 – 1940) – Shaping the City and Suburbs by Dr Ruth McManus. Dublin Phaidon Architecture Guide edited by John Graby and Deirdre O’Connor. Dublin through space and time edited by Joseph Brady and Anngret Sims. Ballsbridge Then & Now by Hugh Oram - Ailesbury Road is referred to, Shrewsbury is not mentioned. Donnybrook – A History by Beatrice M. Doran - Walford is only referred to in relation to its sale in 2005 and Duggan family ownership. More than Concrete Blocks: Dublin City’s twentieth-century buildings and their stories Volume 1 1900-40 by Ellen Rowley (editor). The New Neighbourhood of Dublin by Michael Fewer, Joseph Hone and Maurice Craig Twentieth Century: Art and Architecture of Ireland by Catherine Marshall and Peter Murray. - Section on Ailesbury area, no reference to Walford. The Arts & Crafts Movement in Ireland by Paul Lamour. Arts and Crafts Architecture – Peter Davey 2.0 Context, Setting, Typology, Chronology Walford is an early twentieth century house (built speculatively circa 1902 for rental from 1903), the house has no attributed Architect or designer. Shrewsbury Road was laid out in the late 19th century, following the establishment of the Pembroke Township in 1863. The road appears in Thom’s Dublin Directories for the first time in 1886, and is illustrated in the 1889 Ordnance Survey map of the area. The area was formerly part of the lands of Simmonscourt Castle, but had been acquired by the Pembroke Estate in 1860 through the Encumbered Estates Court. Unlike other developments within the Pembroke Township and the wider suburban area of South Dublin, the houses along Shrewsbury Road were developed individually. No record of a notice of the intention to build Walford was identified, a number of the houses on the road of similar date had been notified to the Town Commissioner and agent for the Pembroke Estate for approval. It appears that the house was built speculatively on the basis of the Thom’s record in that it was noted as available to rent in the Irish Times - June 27th, 1903 as the following: David Slattery Conservation Architects Ltd Architectural Heritage Assessment of No.24 Shrewsbury Road (Walford) Historic Buildings Consultants Dublin 4 8 Vergemount Clonskeagh Dublin 6 3 ’’ Mrs. and Miss Smyly, late of Rathfarnham, are renting a pretty house on Shrewsbury Road, between Merrion and Ball’s Bridge.’’ The house was not built or designed for an owner – occupier, which might be considered unusual. 2.1 Historical Mapping In order to determine the chronology of building on the subject site, a number of historic maps were consulted (the relevant plates are appended to the report and should be referred to). These are as follows – 2.1.1 Ordnance Survey Map, 1865-67 Fig. 2 Extract of Ordnance Survey Map, surveyed 1865 and published 1867 Black line representing Shrewsbury Road and redline approximate location of site. Shrewsbury Road is first recorded as extant on the 1889 Ordnance survey mapping of the area. However by plotting the line of the road and the site boundaries on this earlier map the origin of some of the site boundaries can be better understood. In this case the eastern boundary was formed by the new road, the north boundary followed a pre-existing tree-lined field boundary that was also an urban district boundary. The shorter north-west boundary followed a mature field boundary. The south and west boundaries reflected later development sites on Ailesbury and Shrewsbury Roads. There is no indication of anything of historic interest in the location of the site and therefore earlier historic mapping is not relevant in this case. 2.1.2 Ordnance Survey Map, revised 1889 and published 1894 David Slattery Conservation Architects Ltd Architectural Heritage Assessment of No.24 Shrewsbury Road (Walford) Historic Buildings Consultants Dublin 4 8 Vergemount Clonskeagh Dublin 6 4 Fig. 3 Extract of Ordnance Survey Map, surveyed 1889 and published 1894, redline approximate location of site. Shrewsbury road is now recorded but undeveloped. The western boundary of the later site of No.24 is now established by the joint development of two houses on Ailesbury road – Olney and Leighton. The rubble boundary garden wall of Olney remains a feature of the site. 2.1.3 Ordnance Survey Map, revised 1907-8 and published 1911 Fig. 4 Extract of Ordnance Survey Map, revised 1907-8 and published 1911. House named on map. David Slattery Conservation Architects Ltd Architectural Heritage Assessment of No.24 Shrewsbury Road (Walford) Historic Buildings Consultants Dublin 4 8 Vergemount Clonskeagh Dublin 6 5 This map records No.24, Walford for the first time also the development of a large number of houses on the western side of new Shrewsbury Road.